Prince Christoph of Hesse-Cassel

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Christoph Ernst August of Hesse-Cassel (1901-1943) was the son of Frederick, Prince of Hesse-Cassel and Princess Margaret of Prussia.

Prince Christoph was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through their eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, wife of Frederick III, German Emperor.

Christoph married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark on 15 December 1930 in Berlin, Germany. Princess Sophie was the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, and was the sister of the future Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Through her father she was a descendant of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and King Christian IX of Denmark. Through her mother she was a descendant of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

They had five children:

  • Her Highness Princess Christine of Hesse-Cassel (born 10 January 1933)
  • Her Highness Princess Dorothea of Hesse-Cassel (born 24 July 1934)
  • His Highness Prince Karl of Hesse-Cassel (born 26 March 1937)
  • His Highness Prince Rainer of Hesse-Cassel (born 18 November 1939)
  • Her Highness Princess Clarissa of Hesse-Cassel (born 6 February 1944)

On 7 October 1943 Prince Christoph died in an airplane accident in the Apennine hills near Forlì. His body was found two days later.